If you’re even slightly familiar with the dining options in Chattanooga, you might be surprised to see pictures of Bluewater Grille on this page, as it’s not a new establishment. Bear with me; I’ll explain. Opened in 2006, Bluewater Grille is known for offering the freshest seafood available in the city. The restaurant also offers a variety of steaks, chicken, pastas and sandwiches. I’ve read that Bluewater also has the best happy hour in town, although that’s not something I’m in a position to judge. Finally, as you can see from these photos, the restaurant features a unique decor and atmosphere that strikes a good balance between casual and sophisticated.
So if Bluewater is so well known in Chattanooga, why are we featuring the restaurant in this column, which usually covers something relatively new? Because Bluewater has launched its latest menu, and it features innovative items well worth biting into, literally and proverbially.
The new items, introduced last month, include three appetizers, seven entrees, a dessert and several cocktails.
The lunch and dinner menu now showcases a new appetizer, Tuna Two Ways, blackened tuna over mirlin pickled cucumbers and tuna poke with diced mango and avocado, accompanied by a baby arugula salad with cilantro key lime vinaigrette.
The new Artisanal Cheese Plate is not only featured on the lunch and dinner menu but has also been added to Bluewater’s Happy Hour Menu. It comes with four local farm cheeses and is served with date jelly, strawberries, olives, pecans and grapes, and is drizzled with honey and served with crostinis.
New entrées on the dinner menu include the Lemon Sole, a fresh fillet sautéed in a brown butter sauce and served with rice pilaf and fresh vegetables, and Shrimp & Grits, sautéed shrimp with andouille sausage, shallots, garlic and stewed tomato jus, served with creamy jack cheese stone ground grits.
Other new menu items include: Salt & Pepper Calamari; Fish & Chips; a Grilled Veggie Burger, only available during lunch; a Fresh Fish Sandwich; and Stuffed Lemon Sole with Lobster Sauce, available only during dinner.
For lunch, Bluewater is featuring a number of additional dishes that are good for a quick, satisfying bite away from the office, including Coconut Shrimp & Salad, Kobe Sliders & Salad, Chicken Pomodoro, and Fish & Chips.
Although I would’ve been happy to try all of the new menu items, Bluewater’s made-from-scratch cuisine doesn’t come cheap, so I tried a choice selection, beginning with the Artisanal Cheese Plate. Although the strawberries and pecans were delicious, and the strawberries in particular were better than I’m accustomed to this time of year, the local cheeses were bland, so I won’t be ordering it again.
The Veggie Burger was another miss for me, but it was also my first veggie burger, so it might be as good as they come. The chips served with it were too greasy for my taste as well.
The new dinner options, however, were out of this world. While I’m no expert when it comes to seafood, I know what tastes good to me, and the Lemon Sole nearly made me melt off my chair. The two generously portioned fillets on my plate were lightly breaded and cooked to perfection, and when topped with the freshly squeezed lemon juice and butter sauce, became over-the-top good.
The rice pilaf and steamed vegetables were just right, too. Although the pilaf had a citrusy tanginess, I might have tasted stray drops of the lemon juice I’d squeezed onto my fish. Whatever the case, I loved it, and will be enjoying this selection again.
Now on to the Shrimp & Grits. This dish is one of those perfect combinations of food and geography. We like comfort food in the South, and it’s hard to think of a dish that fits the definition of “comfort” better than grits. Now imagine your favorite grits made with creamy jack cheese and heaped so liberally on your plate, there’s no need for anything else. That’s what you get at Bluewater.
But they don’t stop there. You also get several big, chewy shrimp smothered in spicy tomato jus. The andouille sausage did not make much of an impression, but the rest of the food on the plate more than made up the difference.
If you’re having a hard time picturing shrimp and grits together, then, like me, you must not be from the South. But, like me, this dish might surprise you.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this column, Bluewater Grille is known for offering the freshest seafood in Chattanooga. According to general manager Colin Woodcock, the chefs handpick the fish, which ensures each guest receives the best possible culinary experience. What I discovered at Bluewater Grille, however, besides how good Lemon Sole can be, is that some restaurants do live up to their reputation.
Bluewater Grille is located downtown at 224 Broad Street.